


Magnificent Bastard

by mr_nv



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, More tags will be added when needed, Slow Burn, This will be CHEESY, Wild Card ending, evil/neutral karma courier, i am a sucker for romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:28:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8017546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mr_nv/pseuds/mr_nv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm not a bad man, but sometimes I have to wonder 'what would a bad man do'?"<br/>Vulpes Inculta is smart. He'll jump ship if he has to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble Sticks to People Like Us

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this starts out at Nipton like almost every other Vulpes fic  
> Also there is nothing I hate more than writing intros and this one is pretty sub par but I promise future chapters will be better. I don't have a beta reader right now either so what can you do...

The first time he saw Six, it was like looking at a ghost. He had read up about him of course, knew he was a skilled man, smarter than most profligates. But this man did not feel like the one from the reports. He carried himself with an air of dignity not most wastelander would have. As if he had a reason to be proud, even though someone had just tried to put two bullets in his brain. Still though, Six was obviously not fit to be trekking across the Mojave. The news about his recovery had only just started circling, which meant he only spent about two days in Goodsprings after waking up. 

 

Despite being close to keeling over and outnumbered five to one, he strolled confidently up to the steps of the courthouse. It’s something Vulpes admired, it might have been one of the reasons he hadn’t had Six  strung up like the rest of the vermin. The legionary meets him a few paces in front of his men. When Six stops, the light of the sunset bathes him in a brilliant orange. 

 

“Don’t worry,” Vulpes’ voice rings out clear in the near dead silence. “I won’t have you lashed to a cross like one of these degenerates.” Six scoffs and stares at the legionary down his nose. 

 

“If I was worried about that I wouldn’t have stopped. I know how Legion boys work.” His face doesn’t show anything but disinterest but the way he wrung his hands suggested he was more anxious than he put off. “What happened?”

 

Vulpes tells him of how the town turned in on itself, how people stood by and watched as their ‘loved ones’ were taken, recalled in detail how the profligates screamed as they were ripped apart by dogs. The man had already looked on the verge of fainting, so it was hard to tell what he thought while the information sunk in. 

 

“I admire the purity of the Legion’s Justice.” It had not been the response he was expecting, but a pleasant surprise was always a nice change. 

 

“It has a stark beauty, doesn’t it?” Vulpes lets his mouth turn up in a malicious smile. The courier still stares him down, his left eye twitching slightly. Whether it was from annoyance or the nasty bullet wound on his head, Vulpes never found out. “Now go, and teach these people the lesson you learned here.” 

 

Six hesitates for a moment before speaking again. “I’m actually looking for someone. Short fucker, talks like a dandy.” the courier’s words are like acid as he reaches into one of the deep pockets of his jeans, and pulls out a neatly folded piece of paper. Vulpes pulls the sketch open and a rushed, but recognizable picture of Benny Gecko was staring back at him. 

 

The legionary folds the paper up quickly and hands it back to Six. “I believe the man you’re looking for has fled to the Strip.” 

 

The courier flashed him a genuine, brown toothed smile. “Thanks. So far you’re the only person that’s actually known anything.” Vulpes gives him a curt nod before turning heel and walking away. His legionaries file in behind him and it does not take long before Nipton is out of site. 

 

When he sleeps that night, he dreams of the courier. Dream Six had been sitting at a rickety table, sipping on something out of a stained ceramic cup. Vulpes stood in the doorway to the room, simply admiring the way the sun shone on Dream Six’s face. It’s a long moment before the courier turned his head, and looked up at Vulpes with adoring brown eyes. He gave him a toothy grin and told him ‘good morning’ in a sleepy voice. Vulpes is rudely awakened by the sound of yapping hounds before he could respond. 

 

Vulpes hadn’t been able to explain the reason, but it was an unusually pleasant dream that kept coming into his thoughts throughout the day afterwards. He couldn’t say he felt bothered by it, but it did put a feeling in his gut he couldn't place. And Vulpes hated not being able to understand his own thoughts, so he did what he always did when something would relentlessly bother him. He wrote it down, so he could keep it logged somewhere besides his mind. 

 

He wonders idly if the courier had a similar dream, but almost immediately brushes the thought aside. It was stupid. The whole thing was just stupid, and yet he could not bring himself to think of anything else while he was alone. 

  
He sleeps, expecting to see Six again, but he does not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta and I've been looking at this too long I hope it's okay

It's exactly two weeks and a day before he dreams about the courier again. It’s evening this time and Vulpes swears he can feel the air cooling as the sun sinks into the dunes.The two of them are sitting on a porch looking out over the desert. Six wouldn't look at him this time, but Vulpes wished he would.

“Trouble sticks to people like us,” Six’s words sounded far away and he stared coolly at something on the horizon. “I don’t think it will ever change.” Vulpes tried to open his mouth to respond, but the words just wouldn't come to him. He had questions but would the courier be able to even answer him? This was just a dream, and in turn the Six beside him was just a projection of an overactive imagination. Even so, the way Six’s mouth turned down in thought and how his eyes scanned the horizon felt so real. They stay there until the desert is painted in deep blues, and he couldn’t help but feel it was actually a memory.

* * *

 

He woke slowly this time. Light filtered through the tattered canvas and illuminated the inside of the tent, making it hard to catch another few minutes of sleep. Vulpes sat up stiffly, his body felt heavy and his mouth was dry as sand. He would have liked nothing more than to lie back down but he knew if he wasn’t up and about in the next hour Lucius would come barreling into his tent while squawking about responsibility and civic duty.

It was still fairly early and most of the Fort had yet to rouse from its own slumber. Vulpes had dressed quickly and made his way to the mess area before it got to crowded. It had been easy to slip past the few occupants of the tent and snatch a water bottle before the Cook would try to sit him down for a real meal. Vulpes’ stomach turned at the idea of mystery meat and he downs his water in an attempt to chase away the thought. He then gave himself a chance to straighten out his armor again before climbing the hill to Caesar’s tent in a few quick strides.

There was a recruit guarding the entrance but he looked tired and unfocused. Vulpes thought about scolding him but before he can even get a word in Lucius clambered out of the tent. He looked tired but the smile he gave the younger man is genuine. He handed off a thin stack or reports to Vulpes and fished around in his pockets for something. “You’ve saved me a trip. Read those reports, you are to leave immediately for Vegas.”

Vulpes flipped through the papers and felt his mouth turn back to dust. It was a report on Six. He had finally managed a way to get on the strip and that meant a certain Chairman was about to have his head blown off. The frumentarii would be there to offer an audience with Caesar once the courier had the platinum chip, but after a history of questionable allegiance he doubted the man would accept. Still, it was in their favor to at least try.

Vulpes folded the documents under his arm before Lucius handed him a talisman. At first he didn't believe Caesar would be this serious, but once the weight settles in his hand Vulpes knows it's real. It's heavy disk of silver tied off with thick leather cord and stamped in the middle is the Legion’s Bull. Lucius doesn't offer any kind of explanation disputed the obvious surprise. He simply bids his friend a safe journey before he made his way to his own tent. Vulpes gives the amulet a seconded look over before slipping it into his pocket with a sigh.

A profligate was to bear the mark of Caesar.

* * *

 

The Strip itself was as loud and crowded as it ever was. The people flowed like a river, drifting from casino to bar to whore house. All of them flushed faced and laughing because it's too early for the fools to have lots their caps, but it's late enough for them all to be considerably tipsy.

When Six stepped out of the Tops he didn't run as Vulpes thought he would. Instead, he strolled with a rifle slung over one shoulder and his free hand shoved into his pocket. Few people actually paid any attention to him, but those that did turned white as sand and kept their distance. He wore Benny’s blood stained suit jacket and looked about as smug as a cheating dog. He made a mental note that the courier was the vengeful type.

Vulpes didn't see any other way, so his strides are long and he closed the distance between them quickly. Six recognized him immediately but still gave Vulpes a once over accompanied with a long whistle. The legionary’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Nice digs. Should I be surprised to see you here?” Vulpes opened his mouth to answer but the courier waves him off. “Trick question. Everyone and their mother wants my attention right now.”

“Then you know I've come to make an offer.” It's a statement, one that hung heavy in the air despite the droves of people that buzzed around them.

Six stares him down. His eyes are cold and there's no emotion behind them. After having become so accustom to the courier from his dreams, Vulpes is taken aback. He had forgotten the profligate mercenary he met in Nipton in favor of the boy that would beam at him and drink coffee in homes that didn't exist.

Six flashes him a sudden grin, and his rotting teeth made Vulpes’ stomach twist in disgust. “I'll hear you out but not here. Too many eyes, you know?”

Six pushed past him and continued his way down the Strip. Vulpes sighed and started a brisk pace after him. It wasn't hard to keep up once they got past the gates and into Freeside. Six would glance back occasionally to make sure the legionary was following him through the back alleys but other than that he kept his distance.

He's almost disappointed when the Courier finally stepped out of the alley and into the Wrangler. He hadn’t taken Six as a man who would submit to such vices. Then again it must have been hard for a profligate to resist while living in such close proximity to temptation.

Vulpes slides into the booth across from Six without a word. The courier was taking a long swig from a bottle of whisky as he dug through his pockets with one hand. When he puts the bottle down there's only about a mouthful left but that didn't seem to bother him because he immediately started fiddling with a box of cards. Vulpes watched as practiced hands shuffle the deck like it was second nature. He notices Six’s nails are stained with nicotine and dirt and his fingers are scared bony. He's so focused on the courier’s hands he almost doesn't notice when Six asks “Liar or Caravan?"

 Vulpes frowned and drummed his fingers on the table. “ I didn't come to play cards.”

If the courier is offended he doesn't show it. Six knocked back the rest of his whisky and set up a game of solitary for himself. “Right to the point then. Pitch it.”

“My Lord requires your presence at his camp, at Fortification Hill. His Mark will guarantee your safe-conduct through our lands.” Carefully he pulls the mark out of his pocket and places it on the table before Six is able to finish setting up his cards.

The courier frowns and covers the pendant with his hand before making it a point to drag it across the wood. There's a long pause before Six peeks under his hand to look at the stamped metal. He swallowed hard and let his hand settle back over it. The two make eye contact, and Vulpes realizes immediately that was his first mistake in a while.

Vulpes felt the same intensity he did when he first dreamed of Six, though it was somehow different this time. He still felt the same swell in his chest and the emotions he could not fathom, but there was something else there. Something Vulpes doubted he would ever put into words.

Six is the first to look away. He cleared his voice before propping his elbows up in the table. “So this the real deal then?” Vulpes gave him a curt nod. The courier didn't dare look up from the amulet in front of him. “I'll think about it.”

Vulpes was quick to leave after that and once outside he's surprised how relieved he felt. There were many uncertainties in his mind, but one thing he knew for certain. The courier would come to the Fort.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda short. Thanks for reading, updates will be ASAP if people like this.


End file.
